settled in small claims court

[marinasky]

i have an attorney who was hired to represent me in a small claims case for fraud. i signed a contract stating that i would give him 1/3 of the money that was returned to me but he didnt file the paperwork for me or pay the filing fees, he didnt show up to my court date, and when i tried to contact him during mediation to ask him for some legal advice on whether or not i should settle for the deal that was on the table it took him over an hour to get back to me. he has been hard to get ahold of since the beginning, not answering calls or responding to text messages. he also advised me to file on 2 different people for the same case, come to find out you cant do that and i had to dismiss one of them. is this malpractice? and should i have to pay him the 1/3 if i did all the work myself? i feel like i got screwed...

also, is the decision final once i settle in small claims court ?

 

[mightymoose]

In California your attorney isn't allowed in small claims anyway. You will likely owe for legal counsel and preparation of papers even though you had to file them yourself.

 

[marinasky]

i found that out after i walked into court and they told me...but should i really have to owe him 1/3 of the money even though he didnt do much at all to help me?? can i ask for like an itemized paper with a list of the things he did and pay him accordingly??

 

[Betty3]

You can certainly ask for a list & see what it says & go from there.

 

[mightymoose]

You signed a contract for 1/3. You are on the hook for that unless the attorney makes a new agreement with you.